1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for managing and setting operating information, such as machining information, for a machine, such as a machine tool, controlled by a numerical control apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an NC apparatus).
2. Description of the Related Art
With a conventional NC apparatus, information necessary for operating a machine consisting of, for example, NC programs, such as a main program and sub-programs, to be called from the main program already prepared for machining of a product and tool information of tools to be used and offset data on those tools has had to be stored by an operator individually in a storage medium, such as a floppy disk. When the same product is to be manufactured by machining again, the NC programs and tool information necessary for the machining have had to be re-entered in a memory of the NC apparatus. Also, it has been necessary for optimal parameters regulating characteristics and movements of the machine to be set by a programmer or a system engineer in advance according to the content of the machining before the machining operation is carried out. Furthermore, sequence programs for controlling the movements of the machine have been made universal so that as many tasks as possible can be carried out by the machine, without necessitating changes.
When the same product has to be machined again, it has been necessary not only to pick out the floppy disk or other storage medium on which the main program and sub-programs necessary for the machining are stored, but also to enter them into the NC apparatus and set tool data and parameters to be used in the machining through a CRT/MDI unit or the like. This has been a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Additionally when there is an error in the entering or setting of this machining information, the machine may not operate correctly and incorrect machining may be carried out.